ABSTRACT
Community music practice is built on the premise that everybody has the right and inherent ability to create and participate in music. There is an emphasis on a variety of musical genres and cultural practices that reflect the uniqueness and/or diversity of the community makeup. People are inexorably linked to their music. The journey of community music engagement, it is useful in the interest of meaning making to address how we perceive music and its value. Meaning is constructed, depending upon social, cultural and physical contexts. Common musical experience is a uniting, connecting factor. The nature of the relationship and identifying with the music must be an authentic one, one that is true to self. The larger discussion around authenticity and self considers the group and how one is authentically true to self while adhering to the values and expected norms of the society or community.
